


Make You Mine

by madryn



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot Collection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2019-10-18 03:00:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 20,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17573015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madryn/pseuds/madryn
Summary: I will call you darling and everything will be okay, 'cause you know that I am yours and you are mine.A collection of Adora/Catra oneshots, tags will be updated as new parts are added.





	1. Royalty AU, Catra POV

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to develop my writing more, so here is a collection of ficlets for my favorite ship! I'll add to this whenever inspiration strikes, so new parts will be posted sporadically. Hope you enjoy & feel totally free to comment au ideas if you'd like. :')
> 
> DISCLAIMER: All mistakes are my own, I just hate editing my fics, sorry! She-Ra and all it entails belongs to someone other than me. This story may not be reposted without my consent. It will be set at complete due to the fact that all parts can be read individually.
> 
> Title and lyrics in the summary come from _Make You Mine_ by PUBLIC.

Catra had been wary of her bride-to-be.

She did not know what the girl in question would look like, or how she would behave. Although Catra could take care of herself in most situations, the idea of the unknown still scared her. Would she be kind? Catra herself was not the most empathetic person, but she still had still hoped to one day fall in love with a girl and marry her for that reason: love. As the second child of the King and Queen, she had always held the belief that her parents would allow her to have a loving marriage, unlike her older brother who one day inherit the throne and thus was destined to have a politically motivated engagement. As Catra found out two weeks ago, this was not the case.

Although Catra's people were a hardy race of feline-esque people who prided themselves on their military and their strength, they were at disadvantage technologically. Catra had been learning to wield a sword as soon as she could stand on two legs, but her bride-to-be had been handling computers and robots for just as long. Catra's people were the epitome of the word "warriors", but without the technology of the Etherian empire, they could advance nowhere. 

So, Catra was to be married.

" _What if she hates me?_ " Catra had cried out to her mother one night, ears pulled back and eyes scared. Her mother, her Queen, purred soothingly as she reached out to pet at her youngest daughter's ears. 

" _I would never pair you with someone I thought would bring you harm, my love,_ " The Queen had said, kindly. Her eyes were warm and her clawed hands soft as she held her daughter close. " _I think that this match will be good for you, I promise_."

And despite Catra's brain telling her it was a bad idea to foster the hope that maybe, just maybe, she would have a loving marriage, her heart dared to hope.

Catra was sent, alone, to the empire of Etheria. Her parents could not join her, nor did she truly want her brother to come along. Only her most trusted guards and her handmaidens joined her on the journey. Without the technology of flying warships and travel aircrafts like Etheria had, Catra's kingdom relied on horse drawn carriages. 

There was a reason her kingdom needed the Etherian's technology so bad.

In fact, this marriage was so important that the engagement should have been between Catra's brother and the princess of Etheria. When Catra's father had offered the King of Etheria his son as the perfect match for the Princess, the King of Etheria had disagreed immediately. Shocked and a tad enraged, Catra's father had demanded a reason that the other King would turn down his son so quickly. With an unforgiving voice, the King of Etheria had stated that his daughter was to marry a princess, not a _prince_. The room had been silent for a few long, pregnant moments before Catra's mother had stated that their daughter, Catra, was also of age to be betrothed. 

And now, here Catra was, meeting her betrothed for the first time.

When she entered the Etherian ball, she was met with an astonishing sight.

The people of Etheria were all dressed in beautiful colors and flowing clothing, their hair tied up in intricate braids and styles. Crowns of jewels and gems circled the heads of the nobles, but it was easy to differentiate them from the royal family, because their circlets seemed to be made of _stars_.

And that was when Catra caught sight of the girl she was to marry.

Her hair was blonde and cascaded gently over her shoulders, waves of gold reflecting the light. Her eyes were large and blue, like the oceans Catra had only seen depicted in paintings. Cheeks were slightly pink with euphoria, and Catra knew that she was a goner for the princess that danced with the nobles on the other side of the grand ballroom.

"So, are you going to go talk to her or what?" 

Catra gasped in shock, and turned to look at the large woman next to her.

"Scorpia! What have I told you about scaring me like that?" Catra huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as her eyebrows furrowed. 

"Uhh," Scorpia said, a pink blush rising to her cheeks. "Not to?"

"Yes! Not to!" Catra growled, and then lost all sense of her anger as she turned pitiful eyes to her feet. The feline whined out, "How am I supposed to get my betrothed to like me when she looks like _that_?"

"When your betrothed looks like what?" A new voice giggled, and Catra barely contained her _eek!_ of surprise.

In front of Catra stood the princess, her betrothed, in all of her pink flowy clothing and circlet of stars and golden hair glory. The princess had a blush settled high on her cheekbones, but her eyes were happy as she assessed Catra top to bottom, and then back up again. 

"My name is Princess Adora. I have to say, you are so much cuter in person." The princess smiled at Catra, and the latter felt herself puff up in indignation.

"I am not cute! I am a warrior of my people, and I could rip you apart in battle if I wanted!" Catra nearly yelled, her fur sticking up in places and her eyebrows turned down sharply. 

Her reaction did not have the result expected, as Adora let out a genuine laugh. The princess reached forward to smooth out Catra's eyebrows with the soft pad of her thumb, before taking Catra's hand in her own. 

"Come, betrothed. Let's dance while you tell me all about how grand of a warrior you are. Once you are done boasting I'll tell you all about how great _I_ am with a sword." Adora told Catra as she dragged her away and towards the middle of the grand ballroom to where all of the people were dancing in time to the upbeat music that pounded throughout the room. "Then later, maybe we'll sneak away to spar a little in the garden."

Catra had no qualms about that, nor did she have any qualms about the princess she was betrothed to. Maybe her mother was right... And maybe she _did_ have a chance at a loving marriage.


	2. Space AU, Catra POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Space AU

Catra had wanted to explore the stars for as long as she could remember. 

Most nights she would crawl up onto the roof of her house and trace the constellations with the tip of her finger, dreaming up scenarios of what she would see and who she might possibly meet. There were no doubts within her mind that aliens existed, and she was convinced that she would be the one to find them.

She had worked hard to be top of her class, worked hard to get into the space academy. She acted aloof and disinterested when prodded by other students, but Catra was determined. She was determined to graduate, determined to finally fly among the stars that had guided her through so much of her already.

When her commander had pulled her into his office to tell Catra that she was hand selected to pilot the ship that would be going on a five year long mission into space, she was beyond elated. She had thanked her commander with a neutral tone, but her glistening eyes betrayed her happiness. He had seen right through her, and in a quiet voice he had told herm " _You did it, Catra_."

She had been taken out of her classes and moved into special instruction courses from the flight commanders themselves. All of the other cadets had glared at her, green with envy and red with rage, but Catra never flaunted her new position, never rubbed it in anyone's face. The only thought in her mind was that she would finally, _finally_ be able to meet an alien for herself.

If only she had known then what a pain in the ass aliens actually were.

"Adora, I swear to God! Where did you put my gloves?" Catra hissed, glaring at the blonde girl across the room. 

"I have no idea what you mean." Adora stated, but the way her vibrant blue eyes twitched betrayed her. Catra had long since learned Adora's ticks, and the pilot knew that her alien girlfriend was very obviously lying.

"I can tell that you're lying, Adora," She said as she stalked towards the glowing girl and her shifting golden hair. The girl in question squeaked in fear as she dove to hide behind the couch, putting space between herself and the irate human. 

"Fine! So what if I have your gloves, it's not like you _need_ them!" Adora huffed, her glow settling into something more muted as she lowered in eyes to the ground. "I don't want you to leave."

And that was something that Catra had not even thought about in her haste. The thought had not crossed her mind that Adora had the idea in her head that Catra was going to leave her... as if Catra would leave behind the best thing that had ever come into her life.

"Oh, doll..." Catra said, her voice quiet and deep with concern. "You really think I'm going to leave you?"

"Of course I do! I heard the other humans talking, Catra! I know you're planning on leaving and going back to Earth now that your spaceship is fixed. Why did you try to keep it a secret from me? Were you just going to leave without a _goodbye_?" Her voice was loud and her tears were glistening and her glow was darkening and Catra could not stop herself from vaulting over the couch and cradling the smaller girl into her arms.

"God, Adora, no! _They_ are leaving, but _I'm_ staying. I love you, okay? I was going to ask you tonight if you wouldn't mind me staying here, with you... Hopefully for a very long while." The pilot's voice was too loud so close to Adora's ear, but Catra was panicked at the idea that Adora had been thinking that Catra would leave her, without a goodbye, for Earth. As if Earth could ever compare to Adora. Her calloused hands were shaking as they smoothed down her girlfriend's ever-shifting hair. 

"Of course I'd want you to stay! I-I don't know where I'd be if I weren't with you, Catra." Adora sniffled, looking up at her with those big blue eyes. "Please, please stay here. With me."

"I'd love to." Catra smiled, softly, cradling the other girl's cheeks in her large hands. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Adora giggled, her lips twisting up into a toothy smile as Catra used the pads of her thumbs to wipe the former's tears away. Her glow was back in full force, and seeing the aura of her girlfriend's happiness made Catra feel overwhelmingly warm inside.

Catra led Adora to lay with her on the long, padded surface that acted as the planet's version of a couch. A keypad beside the piece of technology allowed the user to change what kind of furniture the slab took shape as, but the two tended to use it only as a soft place for them to lay on and cuddle. Catra dropped herself  longways on to the couch, patting her stomach in invitation. Adora willingly accepted the invite, laying down between Catra's legs and wrapping her arms around the other's stomach. 

"Ok but seriously, Adora. Where did you hide my gloves?" Catra asked, raising one of her eyebrows as her arms came to wrap around Adora's back.

"I never touched them," The smaller of the two giggled, peeking one eye up at her girlfriend. "They've been sitting on the food dispenser this entire time."

Catra released a loud, low groan as the other's soft giggles increased. Both quieted after a moment, and Catra took a moment to stare down at the cute being that rested on top of her.

She would never regret coming to space, nor would she ever regret leaving Earth behind. Everything she had done, every choice that she had made led her to Adora. She had complete faith in her heart that Adora was the one she had always been destined to find. When she had been staring up at the stars on top of her groaning roof, her heart had known something was out there, waiting for her. 

She was glad her heart had led her to Adora.


	3. Bodyguard AU, Catra POV

"You know we should not be doing this, ma'am." Her voice was sultry and smooth, and Adora loved every bit of it.

"Oh, drop it, Catra. You know the doors are closed, it's just us." Adora pouted, her eyes wide and gentle. The act was something that Catra could never refuse, even though she knew plain and well that it was just that: an act. 

Catra rolled her eyes, discarding her heat pressed suit jacket on the kitchen counter. Her muscles that were once tense relaxed as she felt her charge's arms slowly wrap around her waist. Catra twisted around in the grip to wrap her own arms around the other girl's shoulders, allowing her body to fall back and rest against the kitchen counter.

"I hate it when you're working," The blonde whined, nuzzling her head into Catra's neck and pressing a gentle kiss to the skin there. "You get this distant look and you're paying attention but not to _me_."

"My job description is literally pay attention so that the president's daughter doesn't die." Catra chuckled, tightening her grip on the other. "It's not my fault that you always want to be causing a ruckus. We could make out in nice private places like the alcove in the garden but no! Adora wants to feel me up in the public bathroom of a _mall_ -"

"You look really good in your suit today, okay? You can't blame me for wanting to feel up my super hot girlfriend when she looks super hot!" Adora's voice was muffled from its place pressed against Catra, but she said it with enough volume for Catra to hear, and it made her laugh.

"You had this suit tailored for me," Catra said, lightly pushing Adora away from her body in order to move into the kitchen fully. She started the process of making hot chocolate as she went, shoving the sleeves of her white collared shirt up to her elbows. "You've seen it like, a hundred times. It isn't that much of a surprise when I wear it, Adora."

"Yeah, well, you don't understand just how amazing you look in that suit!" She huffed, dropping onto the stool and leaning heavily on her elbows as they rested on the kitchen counter. 

Catra blushed lightly, still unused to taking compliments, especially when they were from Adora. Adora was always genuine in her compliments, and Catra knew that the other girl meant ever kind word she said. Even after dating for a year, and being in her presence for longer, the compliments caught her off guard. But, Catra had always thought that it was nice having such positive feelings directed at her.

She always tried to reciprocate, too. When she had first taken the job as Adora's personal bodyguard, Catra had been cold and distant. She was ex-military, and she dealt with her post traumatic stress by shoving it down deep within her. Adora had been the one, after knowing Catra for about a month, to suggest that Catra go to a therapist who specializes in working with people with PTSD. At first, Catra had outright refused, believing that everything was fine and that she was dealing with it. But, after too many nights of vivid nightmares, she relented and decided to give it a shot. Therapy had done wonders for her, and she felt lighter and more attuned to the world around her. When Adora complimented her, she felt inclined to compliment her back in a sultry voice accompanied by a sly wink. 

The first time the Catra complimented Adora on her dress with a blush and a stutter, she realized that, _huh, maybe I'm falling in love with the president's daughter. That isn't good_.

Turns out, she was very obviously in love. And pining.

At least it had worked out in her favor.

Catra hummed and she poured the hot chocolate she had made into two separate mugs. She had added an overwhelming amount of whip cream to Adora's, who had a rather extreme sweet tooth, but only a bit to her own. Both mugs of hot chocolate were doused in cinnamon, chocolate sauce, and sprinkles, though. Catra slid Adora's mug across the counter to her, leaning her hip against the counter as a contemplative expression came over her face.

"I'm going to have to quit my job as your bodyguard, Adora." She said with finality. She let herself watch Adora's content face morph into one of confusion, trying to hide her smirk.

"What? Why? Was it something I did? Are you regretting our relationship? If I did something wrong I'm sorry-" Adora had begun to panic, her eyes wide and beginning to glisten with unshed tears.

Catra threw her hands up, shocked at Adora's reaction to her statement, "Wow, Adora, calm down! It's okay!"

"No, it's not okay! What changed?" Adora cried out, standing up from her chair and leaning over the counter to get closer to Catra.

"Well, this is definitely not going how I planned it to," Catra began, walking around the counter to stand beside Adora. In one fluid motion she dropped herself to one knee and pulled a small case out from inside her tall sock. "This is why you are the funny one! As I was _trying_ to get at, Adora, will you marry-"

"Oh my God, yes! Of course!" Adora squealed, grasping Catra's face between her hands and planting a kiss on her lips. "Oh man, you stepping down as my bodyguard makes so much more sense now... but at least now we can kiss wherever we want, fiancee." 

"You didn't even let me finish." She said, but she was smiling big and wide, happiness evident. "I love you, too, if you couldn't guess."

Adora looked down at her with a sheepish grin and a blush, "Sorry, I got a _little_ excited."

"A little?" Catra smirked, rising to her feet to be even with her wife-to-be. 

The two smiled helplessly at each other for a while, before Catra realized that she still had not slipped the expensive ring onto Adora's finger. She raised Adora's hand to her mouth to press gentle kisses to each of her knuckles, then slid the ring onto her finger with one delicate motion.

"It fits!" Adora beamed, her eyes light and glittering with her happiness. 

"Duh," Catra smirked. "As if I would get the wrong size."

Adora giggled at that, pulling her future wife closer to her and giving her a few more gentle kisses. 

Neither of them could wait until the wedding.

_____________________________

BONUS SCENE: 

Adora walked into the party with Catra's arm linked in her own.

"Hey, Adora, we're over here!" Bow called out, gesturing for the blonde to head over to the two couches that her friends had secured. They had all squeezed tightly onto the shitty pieces of furniture, and the sight made Adora giggle.

"Hey, everyone!" Adora greeted her friend group as she neared. Catra gave a little wave from beside Adora, and it drew everyone's attention towards her.

"Who is she?" Mermista said, raising her eyebrow at the sight of the new addition. 

"Everyone," Adora began, gesturing with her free hand to Catra, "This is Catra, my ex-girlfriend."

A few varying looks of shock echoed around the group as Catra groaned at the statement.

" _I'm her wife._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I'm going to write something in Adora's POV. Someday. Hopefully.
> 
> Anyways! Leave a comment if you'd like <3


	4. Canon Divergent, Adora POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I need you._

Adora's eyes were wide, fearful, but her heart was filled with pain.

She was She-Ra, and when she was She-Ra she was not really herself. Another presence took root in her mind, something older and stronger, wiser. Sometimes She-Ra consumed her very being, but Adora was better at controlling the presence now. Adora knew when to allow it to burst forward with a piece of tactical knowledge, knew when she had to suppress the ancient being in order to make what she believed was the right decision.

It was one of those times where Adora refused to allow She-Ra to control the situation, to control _her_.

Adora screamed, her voice hoarse. Catra had succeeded in gouging a deep scratch into Adora's hip as they fought. The air was thick with smoke, courtesy of the fires started by the Horde's weapons. The battle was long and the rebel princesses were losing and Adora could feel Catra slipping away, which was crazy because Catra was right there, fighting her, but-

Adora did not want to lose Catra.

Fighting Catra was like fighting a part of herself. Catra was Adora's anchor, had been for years. There was not a single doubt in Adora's mind that she would have figured out how to meld her mind with She-Ra much faster than she had if Catra had been by her side. 

And that was all Adora really wanted: for Catra to be by her side.

Adora tuned back into the fight just in time to block another scathing blow by Catra's sharp claws. Catra was screaming, cursing, taunting. Her voice sounded far away, as if the two girls were underwater. Adora could not fight back, did not want to. She blocked blow after blow, but she did not strike, could not strike.

"What, the great She-Ra can't even fight back? How _weak_." Catra hissed, her smirk deadly and the claws on her feet clacking against the stone beneath her. Her eyes were dead set on Adora, fire raging inside of them. "Maybe you _were_ holding me back all of this time. Maybe you made me _weak_."

Adora shook her head, her big blue eyes welling up with unshed tears that threatened to fall. Adora had never wanted to make Catra feel like she was second best, never wanted to be the one to hold Catra back. She was in love with Catra, had always been. She needed Catra by her side like she needed the air in her lungs. Why could Catra not understand that?

Her thoughts were her enemy as her second of distraction allowed Catra to gain the upperhand in their fight. Catra's kick to Adora's stomach had the latter falling to her knees and spitting droplets of bright red blood. Another kick had Adora sprawled on her back, and another had stars twinkling in her vision.

Catra took the opportunity to press her foot down on She-Ra's throat, looking down at the ancient warrior with a smug facial expression. She-Ra, no, _Adora_ struggled to keep the warrior within her from coming to the surface. She would not let herself hurt Catra. She had _promised_. Her foot pressed down harder on Adora's windpipes and she let out a pained gasp in response. Adora's throat was constricting painfully as she felt Catra increase the pressure she put upon it.

"I can't believe it took me this long to realize that _I don't need you._ " Catra hissed, dark and deadly. 

And that, well. That statement was too much for Adora. 

She tried to respond, but all she could do was physically choke on the words she wanted to scream. The tears that had sat unshed in her eyes came crashing down, big glops tracking down the sides of her face and getting lost in her hair and in the dirt beneath her. A dry sob shook her chest and scorched her throat.

Catra, with a look of fierce surprise, lightened the pressure against Adora's throat enough for her to gasp out: " _But I need you!_ "

"W-what?" Catra stuttered, eyes wide and tone shocked. She backed off of Adora, her mind thrown for a loop at the blonde's words.

"I need you!" Adora yelled, and it was if a damn had broken. "I've _always_ needed you! You think I don't need you, but I do! You were always there for me, always! You are my _anchor_ , Catra. Why do you think I always try to convince you to come back with me? I ask you because _I love you_."

Her voice was raw and scratched and it hurt to yell, but Adora was nothing if not determined. If she died, right now, she needed Catra to know. Needed Catra to understand that she was enough, had always been enough in Adora's eyes. It didn't matter what Catra did, Adora needed her. 

"You don't mean that," Catra pleaded, the hard edge in her voice turned into a rasp. Her eyes were wide with fear as they searched Adora's own for a trace of a lie.

"Of course, I mean it." Adora's eyes were glazing as the wounds on her body caught up to her. Deep scratches that were steadily oozing and kicks that left her bruised and dazed. "And if you kill me, right now, at least I'll die knowing that I didn't hurt you, in the end." 

Catra stared at her, eyes still so big and scared. She shifted her weight and looked behind her, down at the warzone behind them. Making up her mind, she growled and stalked towards a limp Adora.

"I always end up helping you, don't I." It wasn't a question, but Adora found herself nodding anyways.

"It's what we do," Adora slurred as her body shrunk and eyes closed. "We take care of each other, no matter what."

As she drifted off into the black nothingness behind her eyelids, she thought she heard Catra whisper, _Promise?_ But she was not sure and the last thing she felt was the sensation of Catra taking her into her arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I haven't posted in a hot minute!! Drop your thoughts below <3


	5. Soccer Rivals AU, Adora POV

Adora was driving a little too fast on the road.

She was hurt, angry, furious.

It had taken her a long time to open up to Catra, to feel comfortable letting their relationship blossom into something more than just friends. The whole time she thought her and Catra were _in love_. How stupid was she? 

Adora was not the only one who had thought so. Glimmer and Bow had made snide comments whenever her and Catra were together about how in love with each other they were, how adorable together. The duo never meant it in a mean way; the two loved seeing Adora happy, even if it was with the captain of their school's rival soccer team.

Adora had not believed Catra at first when the brunette had asked her out with a smirk and single rose clutched in her right hand. It did not seem real to Adora. She had been crushing unbelievably hard on the other girl for the better part of a year, and to finally have her wildest dreams come true? Adora was over the moon with excitement. She had been wary, though. 

There had been no reason for Catra asking Adora out at the beginning of the soccer season, after their first pre-season scrimmage against each other. 

Still, Adora had accepted Catra's offer of a date with a smile, her brain heavy with trepidation but her heart soaring. Catra's smirk had deepened, but Adora had not thought much of it beyond a smirk being the former's default facial expression. It was well known that Catra was emotionally distant at the best of times, so Adora could not find it in herself to look deeper at Catra's reaction. Maybe, if she had, Adora wouldn't be so horribly heartbroken now.

Adora raised a hand to brush roughly against the sharp ridge of her cheekbone where tears had begun to blur her vision. Thinking of Catra made her feel so irrevocably stupid all over again. 

Adora was not supposed to overhear the conversation, but she did anyways.

Adora's team and Catra's team had gone head to head in the championship game of the soccer season, and both teams had played extremely well. It had been weird, though. Adora and her teammates had been baffled at how well the other team had done at intercepting their plays. Even well-planned fakes had been uncovered before they had a chance of happening. It had confused the Bright Moon players, furrowed eyebrows and thin lips had quietly debated how in the world the other team knew the plays that they had spent an entire off-season conceiving.

It took them losing the championship game for them to find out.

For _Adora_ to find out.

Adora had been sad to lose, but excited to congratulate her girlfriend on her big win. Catra had wanted to win the championship game her senior year, but Adora had not realized the lengths she would go to get it. She did now.

The blonde captain had snuck into the opposing team's locker rooms after most of the players had filtered out with the intent of surprising her sarcastic girlfriend with a kiss. She had crept through the rows of lockers until she heard voices. At first, Adora intended on interrupting the conversation, but something made her stop. She was glad she had.

"Great job, Catra!" An excited voice had yelled, and Adora heard the telltale sound of someone giving Catra a swift pat. "I guess you win the bet huh?"

Adora paused, confused. What bet was she talking about?

"Actually, Scorpia," Catra began, and her voice was nervous, maybe a little afraid. "Let's forget about the bet, okay? It was stupid in the first place, we never should have agreed on it."

"But, Catra! The fact that you _actually_ managed to seduce Bright Moon's uptight captain in order to take pictures of her team's plays is amazing. I don't know how you managed it, but kudos to you, dude! It won us the championship game!"

Adora could not have held in her gasp if she had tried.

"Who's there?" Catra started, jumping on the cement ledge alongside the lockers to peer over the top. She froze when her eyes made contact with Adora's own. The latter's big blue eyes were quickly filling with tears, and her mouth had fallen open in shock. "Wait, Adora, no-"

" _Don't!_ " Adora cried out, shrill and high, and then ran. She heard Catra's feet pounding after her own, but Adora was faster and too many people had been waiting outside to congratulate Catra on the win that she was trapped inside the crowd. The blonde had ran straight past her teammates, who had been graciously waiting for her while she surprised her girlfriend, much to their confusion. She heard them yelling after her for answers, but she was too hurt, too in pain to stop.

Adora had yanked the door of her Mini Cooper open with vengeance, locking the doors behind her and pulling out of the parking lot as fast as she possibly could. After a moment, she remembered to click her seatbelt across her chest as well. 

That had brought her to where she was now, driving far too fast on the highway with tears in her eyes and mascara tracks staining her hands.

"Stupid Catra! I thought she loved me, but she never did, did she? It was all just an elaborate plot to win a stupid game. She looked at me, got to know me, and still believed that my feelings were worth less than a game. Catra never cared about me, she just cared about _winning!_ " The thoughts hurt, but Adora knew she had to accept the truth. She had spent the past three months putting Catra's needs before her own, and even longer fantasizing about what it'd be like to _marry_ Catra! 

Adora knew it was her own fault.

She had trusted Catra without a doubt in her mind, despite knowing that Catra would never be interested in her. She had looked at the situation with rose-colored glasses, and that would always be her downfall. Adora always let her own naivety hurt her.

The soccer captain took an exit ramp to get off of the highway and then managed to pull her small car off of the road and down a dirt side street. Adora had subconsciously gone to the place she always liked to go when she was feeling down or stressed. 

The place she arrived at was a small clearing in an otherwise expansive forested area. A small, bubbling creek with clear waters and tiny fish flows steadily through the clearing, green lush grass framing the sides. A worn down picnic table sat off to one side, but Adora preferred to lay on her back in the grass. It was dark, and it was comforting to be able to see the stars twinkle slightly above her head.

The pain in her heart did not lessen, but she felt comforted by the area. Adora did not know how long she lay there with her body spread eagle and her tears drying uncomfortably upon her face. Eventually, at some point later, she was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps careening towards her. Adora stiffened and raised herself to her elbows, turning towards the direction in which the sound was coming from. 

A bedraggled and panting Catra came careening into the clearing, her soccer uniform skewed on her body and her face red with exertion. The sight of her had Adora tensing, ready to bolt in a moment. She did not want to see Catra, could not _bear_ the sight of Catra, not now.

"Adora, oh my God, there you are!" Catra yelled, too loud in the soft quiet of the clearing. She either did not notice or did not care, but Adora flinched anyways. "Please, let me explain! What you heard, let me... Let me explain myself. Please."

"What is there to explain, Catra? I think I heard about all I needed to hear from you." Adora spoke quietly, her heart too bruised and broken to muster up the fury she had felt so heavily beforehand. "Please, just go."

"No, I have to explain," Catra tried again, edging closer to Adora. When the latter tensed further, she stopped and shoved a shaking hand into her mane of hair. "I took the bet, and I sent my team the pictures of your plays. I can't- I won't deny that. It's true. But, Adora, I did that the day after our date, when you let me come over. It was stupid and I regret it. But, the rest of our relationship was real. I _never_ lied about being in love with you, about being stupidly happy whenever you were around."

"Catra..." Adora trailed off, voice weak and eyes glistening. 

"I know you might not be able to forgive me for this. I betrayed your trust and I should have told you long ago about what I had done. But, I was scared to lose you, to lose us. It's not an excuse, and should not be, but it's true. I'm so, so sorry that I hurt you, Adora. When I took that stupid bet I never meant to fall in love with you, but I'm not sorry I did."

"I don't know if I can forgive you," Adora started, turning her eyes away from the girl she was so impossibly in love with and looking back up at the stars instead. "I don't know if I want to. I need time."

"Of course, I understand." Catra nodded, but her eyes showcased how deeply heartbroken she was. "I really am sorry."

"Yeah." Adora said. Then, "I'd like to be alone."

"Are you sure?" She asked, and deflated when Adora nodded. "Okay. Get home safe, Adora." 

Adora listened to the other girl's footsteps as they faded away, before stifling a sob into her right hand. She didn't know what to do, or if she should forgive Catra. Instead of deciding on what to do, Adora decided to focus back on the stars. She would think about it later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading <3
> 
> I didn't really think there was a good way to resolve this, so I left it ambiguous. Oops! I hope you enjoyed it anyways. 
> 
> P.S. I looove reading the comments you all leave so do that if you're feeling generous! :")


	6. Famous AU, Adora POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me to myself: stop posting so often  
> me: [outdated kermit meme] no

"Catra, please, I'm sure you look amazing!" Adora told her girlfriend, thankful that her patience when it came to Catra was practically infinite. "Just come out of the dressing room so I can see it, too!"

Adora listened as her grumpy girlfriend let out a hiss of discomfort. Catra nearly ripped the dressing room curtain off its hinges when she yanked it out of her way, glowering. 

"Awe," Adora cooed, her smile genuine. "You look _adorable_."

"I hate it," Catra huffed, angrily attempting to smooth down the ballroom skirt that protruded out from her waist and down to the floor. "Can't I wear something other than a dress, Adora? Please?"

Adora wanted to say no, but she knew that wasn't fair to Catra. The latter was trying her hardest to be good for Adora, and she was thankful for it. The two were going to their first public outing as a couple, a public outing that just so happened to be the Los Angeles premiere of their new movie, _She-Ra_. Adora and Catra had met because of the movie. Adora had the lead role as the heroine, She-Ra, but Catra had been cast as the antagonist of the movie. At first they had taken their roles a little too realistically, sniping at each other between lines and bad-mouthing the other to the other cast members and even the crew. Over the course of filming, the snide comments between the two had turned from malicious swipes to gentle teases. At the point where they had kissed (mid-scene because Catra had just looked so gorgeous that Adora had not been able to resist), they realized that perhaps they had never really hated the other.

Falling in love came easy, after that.

Adora wanted everything to go splendidly, but she cared more about the comfort of her girlfriend than anything else. As long as Catra was by her side, Adora was going to be happy. If Catra being happy was dependent on whether or not she had to wear a dress, well. It was an easy choice for Adora. 

"Wait, I have an idea!" Adora said, excitedly. Her big blue eyes brightened considerably as she pointed an accusing finger at Catra. "Stay right there! Don't move!"

"I would if I could," Catra snorted, but Adora was already gone from the dressing room. The brunette sighed, rubbing her tired eyes with the backs of her hands. Her girlfriend was so damn _energetic_.

Across the store, Adora was talking animatedly to the associate that had stopped to help her. The man was nodding along excitedly at Adora's words as her aura of happiness was infectious. 

"So, do you think you have what I'm looking for?" Adora asked, eyes big with hope as she looked at the kind store associate that stood across from her. 

"Oh, definitely!" He grinned, and waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "We have a few possibilities over here, if you wouldn't mind following me."

Adora nodded and followed him to a rather obscure section of the store, one that was hidden behind a few gaudy displays of huge ballroom gowns fit for royalty. Adora eyed one that was lime green and absolutely hideous with barely concealed distaste. While most gowns could be argued that they could look beautiful on the right person, Adora truly believed that nobody could make such an ugly dress look good. Except Catra, of course. She could make anything look gorgeous. Ugh, Adora really snagged the hottest girlfriend ever.

"Here we are! Perhaps you would like to look through this section?" The man smiled and stepped back to showcase the display of formal clothes beside him. 

Adora nearly squealed at the sight in front of her, but remembered her manners enough to breathe out, "It's perfect, thank you!"

"My pleasure. Let me know if you need anymore help." He said, then walked away with the intent of helping someone else. Adora was already sufficiently distracted, however, by the formal wear in front of her.

"Catra is going to look so good in this." The blonde whispered under her breath, brimming with excitement as she shuffled through the racks to find Catra's size, or at least something of an approximate. Adora needed to see her girlfriend in this outfit, stat. When she finally found what seemed to be Catra's size, the blonde smiled and hurried back to the dressing room where she knew her girlfriend would be at, probably panicking about how long Adora was taking.

"Catra, are you still there?" Adora said as she neared the curtain to Catra's dressing room. At the sound of her voice, the thick green curtain swished open heavily as Catra tugged it to uncover her head. Her forehead was wrinkled and her lips were pulled back in a sneer.

"Adora!" Catra hissed out, looking both ways to see if anyone was nearby. "What took you so long? I've been waiting forever! You didn't even text me back!"

"Oh, sorry, Catra," The blonde said apologetically. "I didn't think to check my phone. I was too excited!"

"What were you so excited about?" She said was a raised eyebrow, before the formal wear in Adora's arms caught her eye. "Oh."

"Oh," Adora mocked her girlfriend, before shoving the clothing into Catra's arms. "Try it on!"

Catra gave the clothes a weird look, but nodded in assent. She tugged the curtain closed once again, leaving Adora to wait longingly on the faux leather couch that stood as the sole piece of furniture inside the dressing room. 

While she waited for her girlfriend to dress herself, the blonde took a moment to think about how the premiere was going to turn out. Obviously, she was proud of the movie. Adora knew that she and Catra had worked incredibly hard to make the movie something worth watching, and she was beyond confident that they had succeeded. She had a much longer history of acting than Catra did, mostly because Adora had been acting since she was a young girl on Disney channel while _She-Ra_ was Catra's first role ever.

It was kind of amazing that Catra had been casted for such a large budget movie without a history of acting behind her, but nobody could argue that was not amazing at what she did. Everything that came from her was so realistic and emotional... even when Adora had thought that she hated Catra, she had been in awe at Catra's abilities.

Now a days, there was nothing stopping Adora from showering Catra with an endless supply of compliments. It was _amazing_.

"Hey, uh, you still there, doll?" Catra's voice startled Adora from her thoughts. 

"Yeah! You dressed yet?" Adora called back, her eyes trained on the curtain in front of her.

Instead of replying verbally, Catra tugged back the curtain to reveal the clothes that Adora had picked out for her. 

"Holy shit." Adora breathed out, eyes wide and jaw dropped. "You look _phenomenal_."

"Shut up," Catra said, but she was blushing. She smoothed her hands down her sides awkwardly, and Adora took a moment to appreciate the outfit on her girlfriend. 

In place of a dress, Adora had decided that her girlfriend would probably feel more comfortable in a suit. The one that she had picked out for Catra was a shade of purple so deep it seemed black with a much lighter purple dress shirt underneath it. The piping on the blazer of the suit matched perfectly to the color of the dress shirt while the bowtie was the same dark purple as the suit itself. The blazer was cropped to Catra's waist and the slacks were practically skin tight. Adora had to physically restrain herself from mewling over how good the other looked.

"So, thoughts?" Catra smiled, because of course she could tell that Adora was two seconds away from jumping her bones right then and there. "Maybe I should try something else on-"

"No!" Adora yelled, and then blushed when Catra smirked. "You're wearing that. If I don't get to peel that suit off of you in a sexy way at some point in my life, preferably tomorrow, I'm going to _die_."

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" Catra bit her bottom lip with a pointy incisor as she fought back her smile. Despite her grumpy, edgy exterior, Catra always reacted so prettily to genuine compliments. It was part of the reason that Adora loved loading them onto her all of the time. The other reason was because Adora was head over heels in love with the other girl, but like who wasn't a little bit in love with Catra?

"I can't wait for everyone to see how gorgeous you are, Catra," Adora smiled sweetly. 

"Well, I can't wait for them to see how gorgeous we are." Catra smiled back, reaching her hand out to place in upon Adora's cheek. Her smile grew in intensity when Adora instinctually tilted her head into the touch. "We're going to be the hottest couple of the year. They're going to be writing odes about us."

"Damn right they are!" Adora smirked, and then pulled Catra into a kiss.

Yeah, Adora couldn't wait to show her new girlfriend off at the premiere. It was going to be _great_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok honestly what the heck color is that suit catra wears i honestly have no clue


	7. Fantasy AU, Catra POV

Catra looked over at the sleeping girl in her bed and smiled.

It was the middle of the night, but Catra was awake. She was a light sleeper and sometimes even the smallest of noises were enough to send her into wakefulness. Tonight, it had been the sound of a car backfiring down on the street in front of her and her mate's apartment building. Their apartment was only on the third floor, so sounds from the street were still accessible to them, especially because their windows were left open at night. 

Adora hated the heat and Catra exuded it like a well-lit furnace, so the latter did not argue with her mate when she requested to leave the windows open at night, despite it being the middle of winter. 

As a were-cat, Catra's blood ran inhumanly hot. Because of this, her skin was always hot to the touch as she produced large amounts of body heat. Her temperament matched this quite well, due to the fact that she was quick to anger and absolutely hot-headed. She wasn't a constant ball of fury, but it took very little to get her to that point.

Adora was her complete opposite. 

Catra had known Adora since they were both children, and so it was always just an accepted fact that Adora needed to drink blood for her nutrients. Her mother had been a vampire and her father a human, and she in turn become something of a half breed. Although Adora did need the occasion intake of blood to keep her alive, she could eat regular foods for energy, too. Being half-vampire meant that Adora's skin was always cold to the touch, unlike Catra's own. She also hated being surrounded by sticky heat, but that was more Adora's preference than anything else.

They were a rather unlikely couple.

Wereanimals had mates, but vampires did not. Catra had known, instinctually, that Adora was the person for her. She smelled wonderfully and always defended Catra from bullies and life itself. Adora had not felt that instinct, but she did fall in love with Catra on her own terms. It was easy, being together. 

Catra was disrupted from her thoughts as Adora shuffled in her sleep, reaching a hand towards Catra's side of the bed. The werecat rumbled softly to her mate, padding gently from her place at the window and back towards the bed. At the noise, Adora stilled, but her forehead was still creased and Catra did not want to disrupt her lover's sleep any longer. 

With all of the grace she could muster, Catra slipped back under the comforter of their bed. Instantly, Adora wrapped herself around Catra like an octopus. The thought made Catra chuckle quietly for a moment before wrapping her own arms around Adora. 

Catra liked the feeling of holding Adora in her arms. 

She liked knowing that Adora was protected and happy, liked feeling the weight of her lover and knowing that she was Catra's to love and to hold. Catra had never imagined that she would one day be so perfectly content with life. After a rough childhood due to a rather terrible foster mother, Catra had grown up angry and hot tempered. Adora had always been the one to soothe her hurts and brighten her day, so it really should not have been such a surprise that Adora had been the one to brighten her life, too. 

"You okay, Catra?" Adora's sleepy whisper startled Catra out of her late night introspection, but she settled easily once her brain registered the words spoken. 

"Of course, doll." Catra told her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and tightening her arms. Then, her voice softer: "Go back to sleep."

"M'kay," Adora said, and relaxed back into sleep. 

It always amazed Catra how easily Adora could just fall in and out of sleep, because she herself had a tough time doing either of those things. Catra had a hard time falling asleep at night and a hard time waking up in the morning, but it was easier to do both when she had Adora by her side. Everything was better when Adora was by her side. 

_The noises on the street have quieted down_ , Catra realized.

Her eyelids had begun to feel heavy and her muscles were relaxing enough for Catra to finally be able to sleep. Her mind quieted as she took one last scent to ensure to herself that Adora was sleeping peacefully.

Knowing that everything in her life was at peace, Catra allowed sleep to overtake her.


	8. Thief/Detective AU, Adora POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This idea came from a request by user nightmaster000!
> 
> basically catra is doug judy and adora is jake peralta<3

Adora slammed her head against her desk and released the loudest groan she's probably ever heaved in her life.

It had happened _again_. This was the fourth time this year, and Adora was becoming sick of feeling this same emotion over and over again. The exuberant high of believing that she had finally, _finally_ done it coupled with the equally, if not more-so, overwhelming feeling of realizing _she got away from me again?!_

Because she _had_ gotten away again.

Adora raised her head to glare at the smiling face showcased on her shitty computer monitor. She was sick and tired of seeing that same smirk plastered across her monitor. That same beautiful, infuriating smirk. Adora was going to die.

"You're not going to die, Adora." Bow said placatingly from the desk across from her. His smile was gentle, but pitying. Adora hated when Bow gave her that smile, because it was the smile he reserved for the times when people failed to catch the criminal they were expecting to. She could count on one hand the amount of times she had received that same look this year alone. Oh yeah, it was four. "I'm sure you will catch her next time!"

 _He says that every time, too_. 

"What do I say every time?" Bow asked, tilting his head to the side with a cute confused twinkle in his big eyes.

"Stop reading my thoughts!" Adora yelled, slapping her hands over her forehead and glaring at Bow as if he had personally offended her. Her raised his hands in surrender, sending a look across the precinct in search of someone to help him deal with Adora. When nobody came to his aid, Bow turned his big soft eyes back to Adora.

"I'm not reading your thoughts, Adora!" He told her placatingly. "You've been up all night obsessing over Catra, and you know what happens when you get sleep deprived. You start thinking out loud, that isn't my fault!"

"I'm not obsessed over Catra," Adora tried to say, but the statement was followed by a symphony of disbelieving snorts from around the precinct and Adora looked around at her fellow detectives with hurt shining in her big blue eyes. "I'm not!"

"Adora," Glimmer started, rolling her chair back from her desk and leveling Adora with a look. "You once stayed up for forty-eight hours just because you thought Catra might stop for coffee at a Starbucks two hours away from the precinct."

Adora snorted, waving her hand in the direction of her friend. "So? You've done worse on the job than stay up for a measly forty-eight hours. You can't blame me for doing my job."

"Adora." And okay, Adora was getting a little tired of hearing her name being said in that tone of voice. It was a little rude, alright? "You scheduled the weekend off from work to do it. You said you had appendicitis. We brought flowers to the hospital for you."

And, okay. That was a valid point... perhaps Adora was a little bit obsessed with catching Catra.

"You're definitely obsessed with catching Catra." Mermista said monotonously from behind Adora, and the latter screamed and possibly fell off of her chair at the sound.

" _Stop reading my mind!_ "

_____________________

Adora had relocated to the break room in order to rewatch the little video Catra had left for her. She had watched the video over and over again, but Adora had yet to find any clues hidden within the self-filmed video that could lead to where Catra was planning on striking next. It was infuriating: Adora wasted years of her life chasing after Catra, it was the least she could do to at least hide a little hint _somewhere_.

With her pointer finger, Adora pressed play on the video once again. 

"Hey, Adora," Catra's sultry voice floated out of the computer for the fifteenth time within the hour. Her mismatched eyes were trained on the camera, and it felt like Catra was staring directly at Adora. Yeah, maybe she liked the feeling, but it wasn't like Adora was going to admit that particular train of thought to anyone. 

"You're stupid." Adora whispered harshly, glaring down at the smirking screen on her laptop.

"I bet you're angry with me, huh? You managed to let me slip through your cute little fingers once again, and it wasn't even hard this time. I know it must suck to realize that I really am just so much smarter than you," Adora glared harder, Catra's smirk was an elated smile, now. "But, I am grateful that let me go; think of all the paintings I still have the opportunity to steal! Hope you enjoy the present I sent you."

With a wink, Catra's little video message ended. 

Adora was left staring at the slightly blurry image of a cleaned up Catra. In the video she had been wearing a purple suit with an undue bowtie hanging limply around her neck. The first few buttons of her dress shirt were undone and the sleeves of both her blazer and her dress shirt were pushed up to her elbows to reveal toned forearms. Yeah, it was not hard to admit that Catra was hot, and what about it?

A knock on the break room door shook Adora out of her thoughts, and she lifted her head to see Entrapta poking her head into the room.

"You have a delivery in the lobby," Entrapta told the blonde, and then promptly turned around and left the break room once again. Adora rolled her eyes at her friend's behavior, lifting herself into a standing position and leaving her laptop perched precariously on the coffee table in front of the worn out couch she had been sitting on. She walked heavily to the door and out of it, following Entrapta's finger to a delivery girl that was waiting in the precinct lobby.

"I have a delivery for an Adora?" The girl said, eyes covered by a low hanging baseball cap and body swallowed by denim jacket layered over a plain black sweatshirt. "Sign here, please."

Adora signed without thinking, and took the large box out of the delivery girl's arms. 'Fragile' was plastered alongside the box in large red lettering, so Adora hugged the box tight to her chest as she walked it back into the break room with her. Confused, because she had not been expecting a package, Adora grabbed a pair of scissors and sliced open the top of the box.

"What?" Adora asked herself, confused, as she peaked inside the large box in front of her.

Inside the box was a grand bouquet of flowers, and nestled inside the bouquet was an envelope. Adora picked up the vase of flowers and took it carefully out of the box, setting it down on the coffee table beside her laptop. It was expensive and ostentatious, and Adora honestly loved it. She reached into the flowers to pick up the envelope, and Adora wondered at the neat calligraphy that spelled out her name in swirling letters across the back of it. Opening the envelope, Adora slid out a plain, white card and opened it to find the words inside.

"Dear Adora," She read outloud, still curious as to who sent her the bouquet of flowers. "If you're reading this, then I fooled you once again. I bet you didn't take a second glance at your delivery girl, did you? I'll save you the trip to check the security footage, I hand delivered the flowers to you. Fooling you is much too easy, doll. But it's still so much fun. Hope you enjoy the bouquet I picked out for you, next time I'll take you out on a date. Yours, Catra."

The blonde detective was silent for a moment as she stared down at the card in her hands.

Then, with meaning, she let out a quiet and heartful: " _Fuck_."


	9. Firefighter AU, Catra POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to post this on its own as it's a little over 2k words but I found out 32 people are subscribed to this and that felt amazing so!! here's another badly written AU considering I have literally no idea how firefighters work :")

Catra enjoyed working as a firefighter.

Becoming a firefighter was never a career option that she had considered while growing up. All of the stereotypical careers had gone through her head: astronaut, president, nurse. The older Catra became, however, the more she knew that she wanted a career in which she could help others in real time. She wanted to be saving lives day after day, but she decided that medical school was not the best option for her. 

Although, medical school was the place that Catra had met the love of her life, so she did not at all regret the attempt nor the student loans she had wracked up during the short time.

Adora, Catra's girlfriend, worked as the head nurse at their local hospital, so she was able to support the two of them as Catra jumped from job to job trying to find the right fit for herself career-wise. One day while taking a break from job hunting, Catra had settled down to share a quick lunch with one of her oldest friends, Scorpia. It was thanks to Scorpia that Catra realized she enjoyed the idea of becoming a firefighter, and it was thanks to Scorpia that Catra now had a stable career that she loved.

All in all, Catra was at a great point in her life. She had a job that she loved with coworkers who were more of a family than anything else, a wonderful girlfriend, and even an apartment that was not a total dump. Hell, even her student loans were being consistently paid off! Catra felt like she was on top of the world.

So, it was only logical that would all come crashing down on her. 

_________________

Catra was sitting in the lounge of the firehouse, hair tied up into a tight ponytail with a still-hot meatball sub clutched between her hands. Her stomach growled at the sight of melted cheese and red sauce dripping onto the wax paper beneath her hands, and she wasted no time in taking a bite out of her sandwich. Catra moaned around the food in her mouth, eyes closed in food-related ecstasy as she slowly chewed on her mouthful. 

It had been a long day, but a rather easy one. 

She had responded to a call early in her shift about a cat stuck in a tree, and then had to suffer through the same jokes she had heard numerous times about how she had the word cat in her name, or whatever. It was tiring to hear, but the jokes had been coming from a frightened twelve year old boy and Catra had allowed him the distraction. It would have been less annoying if her idiotic friends had not continued with the joke on the drive back to the firehouse, but Catra was still unaffected by it all. 

When the second call to rescue a cat out of a tree had come in to the station, Catra decided she had given it enough effort and that she was officially done with the day. Luckily, her friends did not joke about her this time around. Instead, the cohort had focused their attention on mocking Kyle for falling off of his ladder before even reaching the branch that the kitten had been perched on. 

(She had been perched delicately on the second lowest branch, barely eight feet off of the ground.)

Catra was grateful for the events of the day, however. 

The firefighter would take saving distressed cats out of trees over actual lives being at stake any day of the week. It was her job to save people from fires and she loved it, but that does not mean she looked forward to receiving those types of calls. Catra would rather not have people's lives on the line, if she could help it. 

Catra plopped the last bit of white bread from her sandwich into her mouth and chewed on the soft food thoughtfully. Her right hand held her iPhone, and the screen of it showcased her text conversation with her beautiful blonde girlfriend of sixth months.

_Today 4:26PM_

_adora: hey catra <33 how's the shift going?  
Read 4:33PM_

_catra: good. nothing too bad, just some cats. u cooking tnite?  
Delivered_

Catra checked the time with a grimace: 4:45PM. If there was one thing Adora was known for (other than her uncanny ability to wield a sword and her omnipresent friendliness), it was how fast of a replier she tended to be. Adora not replying quick in itself was not a big deal, but Catra could not help but feel worry stirring deep in her gut. The overwhelming feeling that something was wrong laced itself into Catra's bloodstream, and she willed Adora to reply to her text as proof that the blonde was okay. 

That feeling increased tenfold when the alarm in the firehouse sounded.

Catra was suited up and in the firetruck faster than she usually was. Her hopefully unfounded fear coupled by the Pavlovian response of adrenaline shooting through her body at the sound of the alarm made for a rather invigorating motivator. She and her team pulled out of the firehouse at lightning speed, Scorpia at the wheel and Catra by her side. Entrapta, Kyle, and Rogelio were also crammed inside the firetruck and made up the rest of their small squadron. 

Scorpia was making turns and flying through intersections, and Catra became increasingly worried as the roads became more and more familiar. When Scorpia turned onto the street that Catra and Adora lived on, the former's claws nearly broke through the coarse material of her pants as she gripped her thighs in fear.

The firetruck came to an abrupt stop right in front of Catra's apartment building.

"I live here." Catra said, worriedly. Then, louder, she turned to her squad with fear blatant in her mismatched eyes and told them, " _My girlfriend is in there._ "

"You have to calm down, Catra," Scorpia told her as they jogged to speak with the firefighters that were already on sight. Most of the buildings occupants were clustered behind the row of firetrucks, looking angry and disgruntled at being displaced. "You are no use to us if your head is clouded with panic, you know that."

Catra knew she was right, and she was still afraid, but she willed it down and determination took its place. She watched as Scorpia spoke with the captain of the other squadron of firefighters, listening intently as they said that the fire was not going to be hard to contain and that the first and second storied were cleared, but there were still people stuck on the third floor-

"My apartment is on the third floor," Catra told Scorpia, cutting off the other captain. The panic that she had been keeping at bay surged back to the forefront, and her hands began to shake under her thick gloves. "I have to go in there, I have to make sure Adora is okay."

"Catra, I'm sorry, but you have to wait- _Catra!_ " 

Catra could not stand by and possibly let the absolute best thing in her life get hurt because she was not quick enough to act. She threw herself through the main doors and ran to the nondescript door that led into the stairwell. Three flights of stairs were daunting to the average person, but it was made absolutely tougher with the heavy weight of Catra's protective gear threatening to weigh her down. She took her fitness seriously, though, and all of those morning runs and late night gym sessions finally paid off as she powered her way up the familiar path to her apartment door. 

The fire was licking at the second story entrance, but the door was shut for the time being and Catra knew she needed to work fast to get her neighbors out. 

The door to the third floor was thrown open with a bang as Catra started banging on doors, yelling for people to clear out of their rooms. The apartment she shared with Adora was at the end of the hallway, which allowed for Catra to hit every door on her way there. The door to her apartment was locked, but with a running start and a heavy shoulder Catra managed to take it off its hinges. 

"Adora! Adora, are you in here?" Catra yelled, rushing quickly through the apartment and into each and every room. She continued to yell as she went, until she threw open their bedroom door. "Adora, oh my God."

Adora was fast asleep, buried under her comforter with large noise-cancelling headphones tucked snuggly over her ears. Catra could hear the pounding music from the doorway and rushed to wake her lover up. The firefighter shoved the headphones off of her girlfriend's hand and used both hands to shake her by the shoulders. Big blue eyes blinked blearily up at Catra until realization seemed to flash through them.

"Wha-?" Adora had begun to ask, but Catra was too panicked to let her girlfriend's mind catch up to the situation. 

"We have to go, Adora, now!" She yelled, picking her girlfriend up in the typical fireman's carry and hurrying back into the hallway. People had begun clearing out through the stairway under the advisement of Rogelio and Kyle. They were yelling commands and people were listening, which was good considering the circumstances. 

Catra fell into step with the mob, ignoring Adora's tight grip to her suit and trying not to jostle her girlfriend too much as they made the journey down the stairs. It was a welcome sight to see Scorpia's angry face, because it meant that Adora was safe and protected. Catra knew that she would be in deep trouble for going against orders and endangering herself, but she was well aware that she would do the same thing every time.

"Catra, are you going to put me down, now? I'm feeling dizzy." Adora told her girlfriend, nudging her in the small of her back with her fist. Catra listened, and gently set her lover on her own two feet. The blonde looked positively rumpled, pale flesh erupted in goosebumps. Adora was wearing only a pair of tiny sleep shorts, a long-sleeve shirt that belonged to Catra, and a pair of mismatched fluffy socks. One of her socks had little ducklings with sunglasses printed on it and the other had rainbow pineapples, and that was the thought that finally sent Catra over the edge.

" _What were you thinking?_ " She erupted, hand clenched hard at her sides and her glare absolute furious as she stared Adora down. "You could have been killed! If I had not have been here, if I had not risked my job to run in and save you, you could have died." 

"Catra," Adora said, her blonde hair array and her eyes downcast. "I didn't mean to scare you-"

"Well, I was terrified! Do you know how devastated I would be if I lost you? If I lost the person I love the most?" Catra was close to crying, and she could not stop her voice from breaking on the last word. She tried to convey every emotion she was feeling to Adora through her eyes, because Catra was never the best at expressing herself through words. All she knew was that she had been afraid, truly afraid, and she never wanted to experience what she had that day ever again. Adora, in turn, was staring back with wide eyes, her arms limp at her sides. 

"I'm so, so sorry, Catra," the blonde cried out as she threw herself into Catra's arms. Toned arms slid around Catra's midsection as Adora buried her face into the crook of her girlfriend's neck. The rest of her words were made unintelligible by her sobbing. Catra put her arms around the other girl and pulled her tight to her chest, one hand carefully caressing the back of her head and the other tolding Adora tightly across her back. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Shh," Catra cooed, the anger diminishing from her system and relief taking its place. Her arms tightened around her girlfriend as she buried her nose into the soft blonde hair under her chin. "I love you, Adora. It's okay. I forgive you."

The two stayed there, curled around each other, as the other firefighters worked to put out the fire in their apartment building. Catra was not looking forward to the lashing she would get from Scorpia later, but all she could focus on in the moment was comforting Adora as the shock passed through her body. 

"I love you, too," Adora told her, long after Catra had spoke, her tears drying uncomfortably on her cheeks. The two shared a meaningful look between the two of them, and Catra allowed her tense muscles to relax slightly. She still had Adora, and that meant that everything would be okay.


	10. Voltron AU, Adora POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to make one thing clear about this AU: this has nothing to do with VLD ships. I paired off the lions and the characters based off of what I believed would be the most accurate. I don't think I need to say that I'm comparing them to Sheith/Klance, but I'm doing it just in case. I just thought it'd be an interesting universe to write in and gave it a shot!

Being a paladin of voltron was tough.

Close calls and unwarranted memories kept Adora awake some nights. The realization that any one of the battles she fought in could be her last took a harsh toll on her spirits sometimes. She was happy to do what she was doing, of course. Adora took pride in freeing aliens all over the universe from the tyrannical rule of Hordak and his Horde. The parties and festivals that were held in honor of the paladins never failed to bring a smile to her face and a gleam to her eye. So, yes, she felt fulfilled after helping the common people, loved seeing the unadulterated joy on their faces as it hit them that they were no longer slaves to the Horde. 

She did not like to think of the times when the paladins weren't successful.

As much as Adora loved to focus on the parades that showcased her as a person of distinction, those memories paled in comparison to the bad ones. The memories where children screamed as their parents died, as buildings crumbled under the weight of the Horde's attacks. Adora prided herself on her ability to keep people safe, but sometimes she couldn't. Sometimes, her lion was not fast enough to shoot down the Horde's ship. Sometimes, she watched as the enemy ship fired into cities and sent them aflame, people still stuck in the streets. 

She didn't know if it was worse to watch from a distance as innocent people burned or to hear the crunch of a Horde soldier's ribcage as she crushed it inward with her sword. The former she was spared the gruesome details, the latter she could hear and feel. The first time she had crushed a soldier's windpipe had been the first time she had truly thrown up from the shock and the realization. She killed people. They were bad people, yeah, but they were still living and breathing and she took that away from them. It was painful to think about.

She never bothered the others about it, even thought she was always the first to seek them out individually when she sensed they were struggling to cope.

Entrapta, Perfuma, and Mermista, the green, yellow, and blue paladins respectively, were all so heavily weighed down by the war that she could not dare to bother them with her own struggles. Glimmer and Bow, the two that kept the Castle of Lions running and the paladins in order, were also weighed down by their own memories. They had been asleep for over ten thousand years before Adora and the other paladins had awoken them from their cryogenic slumber. The news of the destruction of Etheria was still fresh in their minds.

The red paladin was different, though.

Catra never showed a hint of weakness, or a hint that any of what they were doing bothered her. She was merciless in battle and flew her lion with a reckless abandon that had Adora staring after her in awe more often than not. Of all the paladins, Catra was the best at piloting her lion. Her and Red were both tempernmental and hotheaded, but they worked well together. 

There was nobody that Adora wanted at her side more than she wanted Catra to be. 

As the paladin of the black lion, Adora felt the weight of the universe on her shoulders. She was the head of voltron, the decision maker and the leader. The others looked up to her for instruction, and sometimes she floundered. But, Catra was always there to pick up the slack for her. 

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was one of those nights. 

The stress and the memories had Adora awake far past the time she would normally be fast asleep at. Her mind could not stop replaying the close call that had occurred earlier in the day. 

Mermista and Blue had been holding their own against a fleet of Horde ships, until Mermista had realized with a shock the ships were toying with her. _It's a trap!_ She had yelled over the comms a second before Entrapta realized that a new blip had come over her location systems.

_It's Hordak!_ Entrapta had cried out, her voice loud and scared. 

And they were already overpowered and Perfuma's lion was barely functioning after a rough hit from an ion cannon and Adora knew that they had no chance of winning this fight. 

_Get back to the castle!_ Adora had told the other paladins over the comms, trying her best to sound calm but her panic broke through. _Glimmer, get ready to wormhole us out of here!_

The paladins had turned to go, and Adora watched as Mermista and Entrapta sped off in the direction of the Castle of Lions at lightning speed. Perfuma and Catra were quick to follow, and Adora brought up the rear. Adora and Catra fired off shots behind them at the rapidly approaching Horde ships, and Adora had thought that they were going to be alright, that Glimmer was going to wormhole them out of there in time and they would get out of this rather unscathed. 

The blast that knocked the red lion out of commission was a surprise.

The fear that threatened to choke Adora was instantaneous. 

_Perfuma, get the red lion back to the castle! I'll hold off these Horde battlecruisers for as long as you need!_ Adora had yelled out over the communications line. She had been glad to see that Perfuma had immediately performed an aerial trick in order to alter her course towards the red lion, towards Catra.

Adora had not realized that she had already turned the black lion in a tight spin to finish off the closest Horde ships until a bright light had distracted her. A compartment had opened up out of the black lion's control panel, prompting Adora to insert her bayard into it. She had done so with one fluid movement, twisting her wrist as she went. The action had activated her lion's jawblade, two huge blades that stretched outwards from the lion's muzzle. 

She had not been fully in control of herself as she and Black tore through the ships. She had been relentless, her fear for Catra and her fear for her paladins making her angry and reckless. It was a bad combination to be feeling and Adora had known that, but she had not been able to stop herself from spiraling. She had been so worried-

_-ora! Adora! You have to get back into the castle, now!_ Glimmer had been yelling over the comms, and Adora had to physically shake herself back into focus. She had been fighting a losing battle, but she had gained herself some time to make it back to the Castle of Lions, hopefully with time to spare. 

Lucky, she had.

Unfortunately, Catra had been wounded. 

It had not been anything major, though. She had not needed to go into one of the healing pods; Catra only needed to place a bandage over the cut on her head with instructions to keep the area clean. 

But, Adora had still been shook to her core. The fear she had felt when she watched Catra's lion fall had been unlike anything she had ever felt before. Adora knew why that was, but she was scared to admit it, scared to ruin her friendship with Catra.

She was startled out of her thoughts as the door to her room swished open. 

"Catra?" Adora asked, confused. The other girl looking angry, her eyebrows furrowed deeply over her eyes and her fists clenched. "What's wrong?"

" _You!_ " She cried out, stalking forward across the room to grip Adora by the shoulders. "You are what's wrong!"

Adora was confused, and a little hurt, and it must have shown on her face, because Catra seemed to lose a bit of her resolve. "What do you mean? What did I do?"

"You just had to make me go and fall in love with you, huh?" Catra's voice was so, so angry and Adora's mind had barely even begun to process the words when Catra slammed their lips together. 

The kiss was awkward, teeth clashing and noses bumping. Adora raised her own hands to cup Catra's cheeks, and she used her new position to slow Catra down. The black paladin leveled the kiss out, tilting her head just a tad-

_Oh._ That was nice. That was, well, everything Adora had ever wanted. 

But, soon, the two had to take a moment to breathe and they pulled back. Their foreheads remained touching as they shared the same air and looked into each other's eyes. Catra seemed to search for something hidden in Adora's eyes, and she must have found it, because she relaxed and allowed her eyes to slip closed.

"I love you, too, Catra." Adora told her. They had a lot to discuss, a lot to think about, but for now this was enough. It was enough to just hold each other in their arms and know that the other was still alive. Maybe it would not be enough tomorrow, but for tonight it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Please drop a kudos or a comment if you'd like <3
> 
> \+ Remember to feel free to drop a request for a specific AU if you'd like to see a certain one done!


	11. Fantasy AU (2), Catra POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based off of a request by sondrex76.

Catra's ears twitched as she felt herself jolt out of sleep.

Her eyebrows furrowed down over her eyes as a familiar feeling flooded her veins. She hissed in exasperation and stood to stretch her sleep-heavy muscles. Whenever somebody tried to enter her dungeon, she knew. It was a weird sensation, and she did not really know how to explain it. For as long as she could remember, Catra had been protecting the contents of this particular dungeon. 

She was not too worried that she had felt the sensation of someone entering the dungeon, however. There were many puzzles to conquer and creatures weaker than Catra but still strong in their own right to defeat. Many who tried to enter the cave managed to pass Rogelio's alligator moat and Kyle's swinging hatchets, but most failed by the time they reached Lonnie or Entrapta's robots. One one person had gone far enough to battle Scorpia, and none had ever succeeded in reaching Catra. 

Catra's level was far too high for anyone who tried to enter, so it was no surprise nobody had made it as far as to her. Because the Fright Zone, their dungeon, was stationed in a pyramid within the forest closest to the people of Bright Moon, many travellers believed that the dungeon was an easy one to beat and thus tried their luck. Unfortunately for them, they were misinformed. 

So, based on that information, Catra did not worry about the tingling in the back of her head. Instead, she meandered over to the water pump that was stationed in the corner of her room. She pumped the handle one, two, three times and was rewarded with the sound of water rushing through the pipes. She hummed as she placed a yellow watering can beneath the pipe and watched as water gushed from the nozzle and into her can. Then, she carried the watering can over to where she had all of her potted plants resting on a ledge and one by one gave each of them a bit of water. 

With that task done, Catra exited her resting chamber and walked through a secret passageway that led her towards a much larger room. 

It was the size of a coliseum and looked like one, too. Large white marble arches designated the entrance to the room as well as the exit, and the floor was made of hard stone with a layer of dirt coating it. Bright lights shone brilliantly overhead; the light was intense enough that it disoriented anyone that walked in the room for at least a few seconds. 

Catra crossed her arms and popped out her hip, leaning heavily on her right foot. 

"It's not like anyone is going to show up," she told herself, glaring at the entrance to her coliseum with disgust. "Nobody ever gets this far."

But, Catra wished that somebody would.

She hated to admit it to herself, but Catra was awfully lonely. She rarely was able to see the other monsters that lived inside the Fright Zone. If Catra left her section of the dungeon for too long, she was teleported back to her realm. One time Scorpia had timed it, and the two discovered that she could only leave her section for about an hour before she was teleported back. The weaker monsters could move around between their sections without limits, but none of them had the enough power to enter Catra's quadrant of the dungeon. It sucked, and it meant that Catra spent most of her time alone.

So, yeah, she wished someone experienced came through the castle, just so that she could see another being that was not from the Fright Zone for the first time in years. 

Perhaps some higher deity had been listening, because it was at that moment that the large entrance to Catra's coliseum slid open with a resounding crack. She looked up from where she had been staring at the floor, eyes wide in surprise. 

"I am here to complete the trials of the Fright Zone dungeon!" A loud voice called out from the entrance, and Catra snorted out loud. She had heard the others complain about how stupid the words were, but hearing someone actually say them was so much better. 

Wait.

Hold up.

Someone had actually beat Scorpia? Catra's eyes narrowed as she scanned the being in front of her. The beings stats popped up above her head, and Catra took a moment to quickly scan through the information that was presented to her.

NAME: Adora

BATTLE CLASS: Ancient Warrior

LEVEL: 204

WEAPON: Sword of Protection

"Uhm, hello?"

Catra's eyes snapped away from the information at the sound of the being, Adora, speaking. The girl looked confused, her sword lowered towards the ground and her head tilted to one side. Despite the lack of a breeze inside the coliseum, the warrior's long, golden hair was flowing behind her as if she was underwater. 

"Hi, my name's Adora. Usually the monster I'm fighting has either tried to kill me or at least spoken by now, so I'm a little confused." The warrior told Catra, her big blue eyes shining with honesty and muddled with confusion. 

"Hey, Adora," Catra smirked, letting her claws extend and her legs shift into a fighting stance. "Come get me, doll."

With that, Adora's eyes hardened as she rushed towards Catra with her broadsword raised. Her frilly white outfit was adorable with its gold trim and matching circlet. Catra waited until the last possible moment, and then she sidestepped out of Adora's way. The act led to the warrior being unbalanced, and she skidded momentarily on the loose dirt for a moment. That moment was all Catra needed to fling out a leg, tripping Adora and leaving her sprawling in the dirt. Her sword went flying, landing neatly on the ground six feet away. 

"Awe," Catra cooed to the girl as she got back up to her feet. "You're like a newborn, all legs and no balance."

The golden-haired warrior scowled, shifting her feet into a battle stance and raising her fists to be eye-level. Catra's smirk widened as she matched the position. They circled each other for a moment and Catra watched as Adora tensed her muscles and then-

"Ooh, thought you could land that punch, huh?" The monster grinned, ducking low and delivering a swift punch to Adora's stomach. She grunted in pain, before faking left. Catra fell for the fake, and tried to correct herself, but she was not fast enough and Adora landed a harsh kick to Catra's ribs. 

"No, but I landed that kick, didn't I?" And then she smiled, big and toothy, and Catra wanted to hate this stupid ancient warrior, but she hadn't been smiled at in so long-

Catra grunted as Adora landed a fierce blow to her face, her head snapping to the side with the force of it. She retaliated by kicking Adora's legs out from under her, but as Adora fell she grabbed Catra by the hair and tugged her down as well. The two wrestled on the ground, Catra getting in a lucky swipe with her claws that left Adora's cheek pulsing and bleeding, while Adora scored a lucky knee to Catra's abdomen that stole the breath out of her lungs. 

Apparently Adora was much smarter than Catra had given her credit for, because Catra did not know that she had rolled the two of them into direct proximity of her fancy sword until it was pressed against Catra's throat while Adora straddled the monster's hips.

"Yield." Adora said, her tone serious but her voice sultry. She had a twinkle in her eye as she dropped more of her weight onto Catra. 

There's no way for me to win this, Catra realized with a start. It was the first time that she had ever had the chance to go against someone and she lost. The thought left a sour taste in Catra's mouth, but there was nothing that she could do except frown and sigh.

"Fine. I yield." Catra hissed, wiggling her hips in an attempt to get Adora off of her. "Now, get off."

The blonde warrior nodded in assent, lifting herself to her feet and then holding out a hand to help Catra to her own. After a moment of hesitation, Catra took the offered hand and let herself be pulled upright. The monster dusted off her pants, before sighing and looking up at an expectant Adora.

"Congratulations," Catra started, voice monotonous. "You completed the trials of the Fright Zone. You have been awarded five-thousand experience points, four hundred coins, and the dungeons most lucrative treasure: one wish that will be granted by the dungeon itself."

Adora nodded, her eyes thoughtful as she pondered what she had won. Then, she asked: "Can my one wish be anything?"

"Pretty much," Catra shrugged. "Nobody had ever defeated me except you, so I don't know what the limits are. Ask for whatever, I guess."

"Hmm, alright." Then, "Do I, uh, just say it out loud? Do I need to write it down somewhere?"

Catra did not stifle her snort as she rolled her eyes at the question. "Just say it out loud."

"Okay, well, Miss Dungeon-"

"What the hell makes this dungeon a woman?" Catra interrupted Adora, an eyebrow raised as she crossed her arms over her chest. Adora looked indignant at the interruption, glaring at Catra with her soft blue eyes before clearing her throat and trying again.

"Miss Dungeon, my wish is for all of the monsters in this dungeon to be freed from their eternal captivity." Adora stated, her voice clear and loud. Her words were unmistakable, but Catra thought she heard them wrong, she must have heard them wrong. To be finally freed from the Fright Zone? Nobody would ever be selfless enough to wish for her and her friends' freedom. The dungeon would _never_ grant a wish like that, would it?

The two shared a glance, and Catra turned her head towards the dungeon's exit. She had never been able to go outside before, so if she was able to now...

Catra grasped Adora's hand in her own and intertwined their fingers. Adora's sharp intake of air was not enough to deter Catra from her mission as she began running towards the exit, feet kicking up clouds of dirt and Adora right on her heels. Together they sprinted out of the coliseum and through long, abandoned hallways full of dying torches and cobwebs. They ran and they ran, until they reached the giant stone door that led into the forest surrounding the dungeon. Catra was too scared to take the final step, her heart pounding in her chest loud enough that she could hear the sound of it ricocheting in her ears.

"Go on," Adora whispered, her hand tightening around Catra's own.

The words gave Catra the encouragement she needed, and she pushed open the giant door and-

The feeling of grass beneath her feet and a gentle breeze lifting her hair was unlike anything Catra had ever felt. It was amazing and blissful and she had all of it because of Adora. A stranger she had barely just met, a stranger she had wanted to beat, a stranger who had asked for Catra's freedom instead of something useful like gold coins or experience points.

" _Thank you_." Catra nearly sobbed, turning around to lunge at the golden-haired warrior. Adora wrapped her hands tightly around the monster's shoulders and Catra's arms tightened around Adora's waist. She buried her face into Adora's shoulder, her emotions too much for her to handle and her gratitude too much to verbalize. 

"You're welcome!" Adora giggled, her cheek brushing gently against Catra's large ears. "It's what I do: I go around to dungeons I know that I can beat and I ask for them to free the monsters stuck inside."

Catra felt a swell of appreciation for the arbitrary soul in her arms, and thanked whatever deity that watched over her for letting her be one of the monsters that Adora freed. She was giddy with happiness, and she could not wait to experience the world that she now had the chance to explore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave requests for AUs if you'd like! Kudos and comments are beyond appreciated as always<3
> 
> Updates might slow down a little bit, or they'll be shorter, because I'm focusing on writing a 15-20k word Catra/Adora hanahaki disease au fic :")
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	12. Wedding AU, Adora POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They aren't really in character in this one, but I was sad and wanted the excuse to write some pre-wedding jitters. Mistakes and typos are inevitable, sorry about it.

Adora looked at herself in the mirror.

She looked good, beautiful even, but nice makeup and a beautiful dress could not cure her fear. The blonde woman's eyes caught movement in the mirror, and Adora realized that her hands were shaking. She hid her shaking hands in the folds of her dress to avoid having to see the manifestation of her anxiety and turned away from the mirror to instead rush over to sit on the velvet loveseat across the room.

The room only consisted of a velvet loveseat, a full length mirror, and a vanity. It felt too small, too cramped; Adora stopped her examination of the room to instead look down at her lap as she attempted to regulate her uneven breathing.

It was not that Adora was afraid that she was making a mistake, or that she was having second thoughts. Adora was completely and irrevocably happy with her decision and with what was going to happen in less than an hour, but that did not stop her anxiety from skyrocketing as the clock clicked by. The passage of time felt ominous and Adora could not figure out why.

A series of sharp knocks rang out against the door, causing Adora's body to tense up.

"Adora?" A voice that Adora easily recognized as Bow's floated into the room. He sounded panicked and a little out of breath. "Catra is demanding to see you-"

That was all the warning Adora had before the door was being thrown open and Catra was stomping into the room. Catra turned around and closed the door, locking it, even though Bow was still outside of the room, complaining about Catra's antics. 

"Catra!" Adora shrieked as the other woman started to turn back around from locking the door. "Stop! Don't look!"

Adora could hear the pout on Carta's face as she whined out, "Ugh, really, Adora?" 

Although Catra could not see it, Adora nodded her head. Belatedly realizing that she needed to verbalize it to Catra, she quickly said, "It's bad luck, you can't."

"Adora," the whine in Catra's voice was evident. Adora watched as Catra's shoulders heaved with the force of her sigh. Then, Catra raised a hand up to cover her eyes, and then turned to face Adora. "The superstition is about the groom seeing the bride, I'm not even a groom! Besides, that superstition is stupid."

"I guess you're right," Adora sighed, closing her own eyes and dropping her forehead to rest on one arm of the velvet loveseat. The angle was uncomfortable, but Adora was stressed and shaking and the weight of keeping her body upright was getting to be a little too much.

The sound of Catra gasping had Adora peeking her eyes back open, however. Adora caught side of Catra's lovesick expression and felt her cheeks tingle as blood rushed into them. The other woman padded softly across the room to get to Adora, eyes gentle and expression loving. One hand reached out to caress Adora's jaw, and Adora let out an involuntary hum of approval as Catra pressed a kiss to the tip of the blonde's nose.

"But, really, Adora," Catra began, crouching in front of the loveseat while her hand remained in its place, cupping Adora's jaw. "What's all this about you freaking out, huh? You having second thoughts?"

The words were delivered with a tilted little smirk, but Adora could see the hesitance lingering in Catra's eyes. Guilt welled up deep in Adora's chest, and she was quick to shake her head at the question. She would never regret the decision to marry Catra; the other woman was the love of her life. It was something else that had her worked up, but the tension was already easing out of her chest by just being within Catra's presence. The blonde tilted her head into the hand on her jaw and pressed a gentle kiss to her lover's thumb. 

"No, definitely not." She soothed. "I'm just... I guess it's all just catching up to me. I never really let myself imagine what it would be like to get married, and now that it's happening I'm just woefully unprepared for everything that I'm feeling."

"It's okay, Adora," Catra said, her smirk turning into a genuine smile. She stood to her full height and slid her hand away from Adora's cheek in order to offer it to her instead. When Adora accepted it without hesitation, Catra pulled the other woman upright and then flush against herself. Catra's hands gripped Adora's hips as the latter's hands hooked themselves behind Catra's neck. "If it makes you feel better, I'm absolutely terrified, too. But, I'm okay with being scared, because I know that at the end of today, and every day after, you'll be wearing my ring and I'll be wearing yours. I love you, Adora. The fears that I have about today are outshined by the hope I have for a future with you by my side."

Adora's face brightened with the intensity of her smile, and she pulled her wife-to-be into a kiss. It was slow, all passion and no hurry. Today was all about them; Adora did not need to be worried about anything other than making Catra happy. It was a relaxing thought. 

"I love you more than anything, Catra," Adora whispered, tucking her face into the crook of Catra's neck. She was content to stay in Catra's embrace, but a voice disrupted them. 

"Uh, Catra? Adora?" Bow called out from behind the door. "You're going to be late to your own wedding if Catra isn't up at the altar in, like, three minutes."

Catra snorted, pressing a chaste kiss to Adora's forehead as she pulled back from their embrace. Turning to her future wife, Catra smiled and whispered, "Don't leave me stranded at the altar, alright?"

"I would never," Adora said, with too much conviction and truth driving her words for it to be taken as a lighthearted response. It only made Catra smile wider, however, so Adora was not too hung up about it. Catra waved, once, and then disappeared out of the door and to the left. 

Adora willed her blush to lighten as she thought forward to the fact that in a few minutes she would be married to _Catra_. Her childhood best friend, her confidant, her lover. A sudden warmth nearly suffocated Adora, but she was no longer fretting. Now, all she felt was the giddy feeling of excitement. She could not wait to call Catra her _wife_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you thank you thank you for almost 200 kudos!! I never really expected to get any love for these little one-shots, so each and every kudos and comment means the absolute world to me. Thank u sm everyone <33


	13. Royalty AU (2), Catra POV

"This is going to sound controversial, but I think that went well."

Catra's head whipped around to shoot a scathing glare at the woman next to her. Both of her fists curled in on themselves, and she clenched her teeth at the sharp twinge of pain she felt as her claws dug into the fragile skin of her palms. The woman beside her looked absolutely wrecked; her blonde hair skewed and messy, her clothes haphazard and disarrayed. The thought of what had just happened sent a tingle down Catra's spine, and she quickly fought to banish the memory from her mind. 

"How in the hell do you think that went _well _?" Catra hissed back, scowling when her words were met with a girlish giggle.__

____

Adora raised one hand and wrapped it gently around Catra's wrist, pulling the distressed woman close enough for Adora to press a gentle kiss to her cheekbone. A chuckle escaped her lips, again, when she realized that she could feel the heat of Catra's blush against her lips. She received a glare for her efforts, but Catra did not attempt to escape Adora's hold.

____

"Well, they didn't behead you, did they?" The words were paired with a devilish grin, causing Catra to groan and turn away from Adora once again. "Seriously, they left you to continue defiling me instead of trying to have you killed... that's a great sign!"

____

Catra's head snapped around to fix Adora with a heated glare. "I-I was _not_ defiling you! We were just kissing!" 

____

"I don't know, you _did_ have your tongue down my throat." She grinned, and walked in the opposite direction from Catra. Instead, Adora made her way to sit back down on the bed that they had been kissing upon mere minutes before. The bedsheets were soft and silky and a beautiful sky blue that complemented Adora's eyes. She looked like the princess she was when she was sprawled out upon the sheets, and Catra had to shake herself away from that train of thought.

____

"Adora, you _know_ this isn't how I wanted this to happen!" The distressed note of her voice was much stronger than Catra had anticipated it to be, but she could not help it; she was genuinely upset over this, even if it was a silly thing to be upset about. 

____

Adora's big blue eyes softened, and she beckoned Catra to cross the room and lay beside her on the outrageously large bed. She listened, of course, because she wanted the comfort that Adora brought and she was not upset with _Adora_ , just the events that had occurred. Catra sat up against the headboard and raised her right arm up. Adora took the bait, and she rolled herself over to rest her head upon Catra's thighs and wrap her arm over her lover's knees.

____

Catra gently carded her fingers through Adora's soft blonde hair, sighing as she did so. "I wanted to have a good first impression with your parents," she began. "I really, really want them to let me marry you, Adora."

____

"As if they could stop us," Adora grinned up at her lover, but it fell just as quickly as it arrived when Catra's eyebrows furrowed deeper over her eyes. "Catra, I've told them all about you, about us. They are genuinely excited to meet you, to meet the woman I fell in love with... well, meet her properly, that is."

____

She snorted at that, pausing her ministrations to Adora's hair to caress her cheekbone with the pad of her thumb. "I can't believe they caught us making out on your _bed._ "

____

"You have to admit that it was kind of hilarious, though," The blonde giggled, eyes twinkling up at Catra as she thought back to the disaster that had happened earlier. "I don't think I have ever heard a king _squeal_."

____

"That was a little funny, wasn't it?" Catra pondered, and then she, too, giggled at the memory of the King's squeal and the Queen's ' _Oh!_ '.

____

Adora hummed in agreement, and she began to trace shapes with her finger onto the exposed skin of Catra's hip. The act calmed the last bit of nerves racing through Catra's bloodstream and she allowed herself to relax more deeply against the headboard of Adora's bed. 

____

Together they sat in silence, basking in the warmth of the other and the serenity of Adora's bed chamber. Adora found herself dozing on Catra's lap, while Catra herself was deep in thought. Thoughts of weddings, of royalty, of children. 

____

Catra wanted everything with Adora. 

____

Her eyes strayed over to the velvet loveseat that sat in front of the room's fireplace. Her jacket had been haphazardly strewn across it when Adora had tackled Catra with a vengeance an hour earlier, which Catra remembered fondly. Catra knew what sat in the right pocket of that jacket: a small, wooden box. Inside the box was a ring, _the_ ring. 

____

The ring Catra wanted to see on Adora's finger for the rest of their lives.

____

The thought made Catra giddy with excitement, but she forced herself to limit her excitement to a broad smile as Adora snoozed soundly on top of her thighs. Soon, Catra would ask Adora's parents for the honor to marry her, and soon Catra would lower herself to one knee and propose to the love of her life. 

____

Until then, Catra was content to imagine the future, _their_ future.

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for 213 kudos!! I love you all so much<3


	14. Christmas AU, Adora POV

Adora was absolutely giddy with excitement.

She bounced lightly in her seat, her nerves and her happiness getting the best of her. Outside of her small, compact window was the overview of her entire city; the spiraling buildings and overabundant forests of Etheria made for a wonderful sight. It was so very early in the morning, but the last dredges of weariness had fallen away at the sight of pink and purple streaks dancing across the horizon. The sight of her city from the tiny, dirty window of a plane was something Adora would probably always cherish.

The stranger next to Adora snuffled in his sleep. He had been snoring for the past three hours, loud and unending, and a baby a few rows behind Adora had been crying for the past thirty minutes, but nothing could put a damper on Adora's mood.

She was surprising her girlfriend for Christmas.

Originally, Adora and Catra _had_ planned on spending Christmas together. Of course they had been planning on it, considering the fact that they lived together and had been for nearly three months. But, that plan had been ruined when Adora had received a phone call from her boss, Angella, that she was necessary to act as liaison and smooth over a rather heated deal between Bright Moon Enterprises and Horde Incorporated. 

With no choice but to say yes, Adora had tearfully told Catra that should make it up to her. Catra had smirked, her eyes gentle, and told Adora not to worry. 

_Christmas can wait until you come back home_ , Catra had told her, lighting kicking Adora's shin. _I only care about holidays if I have you by my side, anyways._

Regardless of her kind words, Adora knew that Catra was disappointed.

So, Adora had made it her mission to seal that darn deal between Bright Moon and Horde Inc. as fast as she possibly could. And, boy, did she make it _happen_. Her naturally bubbly nature paired with her friendships with major players in both companies (Glimmer and Bow, Scorpia and Lonnie, respectively), had worked in her favor. 

That was how Adora had been able to find herself where she was at now: sitting within a large, quickly descending plane with a snoring old man for a companion and the entirety of Etheria showcased outside her window. 

___________________

The last few minutes of her plane ride had gone smoothly, and her voyage through her city's airport much less so, but she finally found herself sliding into the front seat of her friend's car with a grateful smile. 

"Seriously, Perfuma," Adora told her friend, eyes shining with gratitude and cheeks bright with happiness. "Thank you so much for giving me a ride so last minute! I didn't even think about the fact that Catra had dropped me of at the airport until I landed and had nowhere to go."

A bright smile accompanied Perfuma's seemingly natural glow as she preened under Adora's words. The pink of her cheeks made her freckles even more prominent, and the flowers in her hair complemented her eyes. "Of course, Adora! I love surprises! Besides, Catra has been so grumpy while you've been gone."

"Sounds like Catra," Adora agreed easily. She dropped her clasped hands onto her lap and turned to look out of the passenger side window as Perfuma drove them the distance to Catra and Adora's shared home. The radio was on low, playing a song by Lorde, and the car's heater was cranked up to the max to fight the chill from outside. Adora tried to appreciate the view of her city at ground-level, but she quickly gave up and closed her eyes to instead relive the view that she had seen from the airplane.

There was an easy silence between the two friends as Perfuma drove them through the slightly icy streets that neither of them felt compelled to break. Perfuma hummed along to the radio quietly, sporadically mumbling a few of the lyrics here and there, but mostly ones from the chorus. The sound was pleasing, and Adora was tired, so she allowed herself to doze slightly in her seat with her head pressed against the cold window. 

A ping! from her phone woke Adora up from her stupor, and she rubbed her eyes with one hand while the other slid to unlock her iPhone.

_Today 7:23AM_

Catra: _hey adora, hope you have a good morning. love you._

Adora: _morning catra <3333 not good unless i've seen u <33_

Catra: _yeah, yeah. just get home soon._

Adora: _awe, u do miss me :")_

Catra: _of course i do, idiot. it's not the same without you. :(_

Adora: _good thing you have me, huh ;)_

Catra: _huh?_

Raising her hand to the door, Adora knocked against the wood three times, and then stopped to wait for an answer. In almost no time at all, the door was being thrown open. On the other side of the door stood Catra in all of her disheveled glory: her ( _Adora's_ ) shirt was on backwards and her hair was a mess of tangles. But, her eyes were glistening with unshed tears and her hand that was not turning white around the door handle was clenching and unclenching by her side.

"You're here." Catra breathed out, her eyes wide and a smile quickly enveloping her space. "You're _home_."

"Duh," Adora smiled, beamed. "Merry Christmas Eve."

Catra released her hold on the door to drag Adora into their home, throwing the door closed behind the two of them. The disheveled woman pushed Adora back against the door after it had clicked into place before settling her hands on the blonde's hips. Her smiling was absolutely blinding, and Adora knew that her own smile was just as large. Feeling Catra's lips against her own was utterly euphoric, and Adora could not possibly get enough of her lover.

" _Woof!_ "

Adora froze, and so did Catra. 

"Merry Christmas?" Catra said, but the hesitance in her voice made it seem like a question.

Adora's jaw was loose as she watched a small puppy with paws that were far too large for it's puppy bound over to the pair. The puppy's tongue was poking out of her mouth and her eyes were sparkling and Adora was utterly in love. She pressed a quick kiss to Catra's mouth, and then another two in quick succession to the first, and then sat herself down on the floor with widespread arms.

"Puppy!" The blonde called out, and giggled as the puppy immediately bounded over to jump onto her lap. Adora hunched her body over the body and cooed and awed as she stroked her hands gently over the soft fur of her Christmas present. With a shock of realization, Adora turned sheepish eyes up towards her girlfriend, who had been looking down at the pair with quiet adoration. At Adora's facial expression, however, Catra's own expression morphed into one of suspicion. 

"What?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

Adora giggled sheepishly, picking her puppy up and cuddling her close to her chest. "Is now a bad time to tell you I got you a kitten for Christmas?"


	15. Canon Divergent (2), Catra POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _WARNING_ : Major Character Death
> 
> So uh.... haven't posted in like a month.... And I come back to you with major character death. Yeah.

It was funny, really, how one event could change a person's entire perspective.

If she had heard the saying before, Catra would be repeating in her head like a mantra: _hindsight is twenty-twenty_. But, the old saying was something she had never heard before, so it was not on her mind. In all seriousness, her mind was carefully blank. 

Her eyes were trained on her right hand. It was shaking, but only slightly. Was it shaking because of what she had just done, or was it shaking because of the weight of the sword she held? Catra dropped the sword of protection, but her hand still shook. She refused to let her eyes look at the sight beyond her shaking hand. It was too much, too gruesome. 

Catra had been enraged, but her rage had invigorated her. 

Taunts flew out from between her teeth like knives, her words cutting into Adora's heart as her claws mirrored the action to Adora's skin. The blonde was beaten, bruised, and bloody. Her big blue eyes were large, wide, pleading. From her lips flowed both blood and distraught words. Neither could stop the rampage that Catra had found herself on.

_Catra, please! Catra, we have to stop fighting. I won't hurt you!_

That had made Catra angrier: Adora refused to fight back. She blocked Catra's claws with the outside of her forearms, grunting and yelling as she felt deep cuts well up with blood from where Catra's hits had landed. For far too long, Catra had been holding on to her sanity by a thread. With Adora in front of her and the war around her, that thread finally snapped. Adora had thrown up the sword of protection to block Catra's claws, but her eyes were pained as she did so. This was not a fight that she wanted, and Catra had used that to her advantage.

_I can't fight you, Catra. I won't! You have got to stop this!_

Adora had thrown the sword of protection to the ground and had raised her palms in a placating gesture. Her head was bowed, but her blue eyes still radiated through the blonde strands of hair that had fallen into her face, skewed out of place because of the fight. 

_I told you to come back to the Horde, Adora_.

She had said, swiping the sword off of the ground. It was heavy, and it took Adora two hands to hold it, but Catra managed the weight in one. She had always been the stronger of the two, the more lethal of the two. Yet, for some reason, Adora had always been the favorite, would always be the favorite. Adora had left the Horde, had left Catra.

One step after another, Catra had slowly walked towards Adora. Despite the fact that her heart had been pounding and her breathing had been erratic only moments prior, she felt strangely calm, then. 

She would have thought her mind would have been blank when she finally delivered the killing blow.

It was not.

Flashes of memories moved through Catra's working memory at lightspeed, one after another. Snippets of dialogue between Catra and Adora, snippets of Catra curled around Adora while the latter slept, snippets of their life together. All of her memories blended and blurred as she closed the distance between herself and her rival, her former best friend, her former lover. It all same to a deafening stop at one particular memory. The memory of Catra realizing once and for all that Adora had well and truly left her.

The rage, the jealousy, the hurt. All of it came flooding back into Catra as she swung the sword of protection in one clean sweep downwards.

Catra and Adora had locked eyes, then. 

Adora's eyes had the gleam of unshed tears covering them like film. Her eyes had been trusting; she knew, in her heart, that there was no way Catra would be able to deliver the killing blow.

Adora had been wrong.

Catra looked down at the dark, steaming blood pooling at her feet.

"I killed you," she whimpered, staring down at limp hair and distant blue eyes. "I killed She-Ra."

_No_ , a traitorous voice whispered in Catra's ear. _You killed Adora_. 


	16. (Kind of) High School AU, Catra POV

"I just wished someone actually liked me for me, you know?" Adora says, her eyes downcast and her thumbs twitching in her lap. She sits cross legged beside Catra on Adora's bed, her knees bumping Catra's and their shoulders brushing. The curtains billow out of place as the outside winds blow, and the pitter patter of rain hitting the window is white noise to Catra.

Catra stays silent, because it is hard for her to keep her emotions in check.

"I really thought Glimmer loved me, but I should have known better. Big dumb Adora," she cuts herself off with a laugh, but it is more of a sob than a laugh and her voices breaks on her own name. Catra's nails dig a little bit deeper into her palms at the words and her glare darkens at the self deprecation pouring out of Adora in waves. "always the butt of a joke."

 _I'm right here_ , Catra screams inside of her head. _I've been here the whole god damn time, Adora. I've always been here. Why won't you choose me?_

"I'm sorry," she says instead. The voice in her head gets louder. "You're an amazing person, Adora. Those assholes don't know you like I do-" _They don't love you like I do_. "And I know that you're the best person alive on this planet. You're selfless and good, and one day you'll open your eyes and you'll find the person for you right in front of you." _You'll find me_.

Adora brings a fist up to her mouth in an aborted attempt to stifle the sob that comes out of her mouth, but Catra can see the smile tugging at the corner of her lips. The blonde turns to Catra, her big blue eyes filled with an emotion that Catra can't name. She shakes her head minutely and says, "You think too highly of me, Catra." 

"You don't think highly enough of yourself," Catra shoots back, quick as a whip. She's annoyed and she hates herself for it. It's easy to bury her feelings, though, and focus on bringing the light back into Adora's eyes. 

"Maybe you're right." Adora responds after a moment, unfolding her legs and extending them out across the bed. Her hands rest on her thighs, and the faraway look in her eyes startles Catra. 

Slightly panicked, Catra attempts to rectify the situation that he unknowingly pushed them in by bumping her shoulder against Adora and saying, "At least you'll always have me as a plan B if nobody else falls in love with you."

Adora's head whips towards Catra's in shock, and Catra is confused for a moment at the shock so clearly displayed on Adora's face.

Oh, Catra thinks. The cat's out of the bag now.

"What do you mean?" Adora's voice is little more than a croak, and she's staring so fiercely into Catra's eyes that the latter feels an itch under her skin. Her blue eyes are guarded, and that fact alone breeds a feeling of unease in Catra. "Catra, what do you mean?"

"Don't act like you didn't know," she feels a little angry, now. Everyone knew about Catra's feelings for Adora, have known about them for the entirety of their high school career. The worst thing that could happen to Catra was Adora mocking her for her feelings. Catra pushes herself off of the wall and off of the bed, standing and crossing her arms with a huff. 

"Didn't know what, Catra?" Her voice is panicked, her relaxed position now a tense one, her eyes wide and big and hopeful. 

Catra's feelings get the best of her, like they always seem to do around Adora, and she whips around to glare meanly at Adora and yells, " _That I've been in love with you for years!_ "

Silence surrounds the two of them as Catra holds her breath and Adora's jaw drops in surprise. Catra waits for the rejection she will inevitably hear, waits for the words that will shatter every last illusion she held for herself and Adora. She's tense and her body hurts, but she knows that the words she hears next are not ones that she is prepared to handle.

"Catra," Adora starts, her voice rough and broken. Catra doesn't want to hear her next words, doesn't think she can. She turns on her heel and starts towards the door, but Adora is wicked fast when she wants to be and her hand is closed around Catra's wrist before her foot hits the ground. "Catra, stop and listen to me."

She stops, but she doesn't turn. She can't.

"Catra," Adora tries again. "I think I'm in love with you, too."

Her head whips around to look at the blonde, eyes narrowed but heart welling up three sizes too big in her chest. Her chest heaves with the words as she bites out, "You _think_?"

"I am in love with you," Adora confirms, her eyes searching Catra's own. "I have been for awhile, actually."

There is nothing stopped Catra from rushing forward in her haste to kiss Adora. Their teeth clack against each other as Catra moves too fast, too clumsily, but Adora only giggles and slides her hands to rest on Catra's cheeks, mumbling a, "Slow down, Catra."

Catra hisses, a little, but the noise cuts out as Adora kisses her at just the right angle, their lips sliding against one another's own. Adora pulls back just as quick, smiling too wide to to properly kiss Catra again. 

"I'm in love with you, too," Catra says, but Adora already knows that.

"I know," Adora giggles. "But I'll never tire of you saying it."

Catra can't resist kissing her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in half an hour instead of sleeping, because I haven't updated this in awhile. 
> 
> I did post two other Catradora one-shots in the past few days, though! Feel free to check those out if you want.
> 
> Thanks, as always, for reading. I'd like to remind everyone reading that I do take requests! I'm working on one right now, so that should be ready at some point in the near future. Feel free to comment any ideas you might want to see, because I am running dry, haha. Also, I've been writing in the present tense lately; does anyone have a preference between reading present tense or past tense? Let me know.


End file.
